The Dithering Heart of a Dreadful Dragon
by A Lonely Silhouette
Summary: "What are you?" she whispered into the creature's ear. "Not dragon, certainly. No creature of the dark are you. No creature of hatred are you. Nor a creature of destruction, certainly not. No fearsome menace of the world. No, not thee."
1. The Traitor

A/N: This is a fairytale featured in my fan fic, Tamer of the Dragon. Tamer of the Dragon (a romance between a young Astoria and Draco) centers around this fairytale that I have made up. The characters move and grow according to the dynamic changes of the characters within this story. I thought it was a wonderful fairytale and just wanted to see how well it would do standing on its own without Tamer of the Dragon. (You should check out my other fan fic if you enjoy this. I'd love new readers.) Enjoy!

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><p><em><strong>The Dithering Heart of a Dreadful Dragon<strong>_

_Once upon a time, a lonely and dreadful dragon escaped from a far away land. It went out in search of a kingdom, a kingdom of which he could do as he pleased and wreak havoc amongst its people. _

_The dragon flew and flew across many a land. Days and days passed by, and the dragon began to grow weary. He flew until he could fly no more. Just as his wings began to give out, he stumbled upon a giant castle shrouded in darkness. Not having anywhere else to go, the dragon descended down upon the rocky landscape of which the castle sat. He landed with a loud "thwump" and looked across to the entrance of the castle before him and shuddered. There was no one- not a soul to be found. _

_The dragon hesitated for a moment. What shall happen to him here? What lay within those walls before him? This he did not know, but he had no choice. The lonely dragon entered the castle. There, he fell into a deep slumber in which to rest his tired body. In his sleep, he dreamed of many things, terrible things and wonderful things. _

_Nothing could wake the dragon from this slumber. Only time could rouse this dragon from his sleep, and time seemed to be passing slowly. _

_Not so far away lay a kingdom of white and gold. There lived a royal family of great status and amongst them resided the peasants and servants of the kingdom. Though glorious as it appeared, the kingdom was a dark place. People of two faces roamed the castle. One of their faces was bright, beautiful, and ripe with youth. The other was dark, ugly, and wrinkled with old age. These people wore beautiful and decorative masks over their faces, for they did not want others to know from which one they were speaking. Among those people with two faces were the king, queen, and their eldest son. The youngest daughter did not carry this trait and was therefore thought of as an outsider. She was ignored by her parents and abused by her brother. _

_One morning, the princess woke up to the screaming of an elderly man. __"I'__m innocent!" he shouted and shouted. The girl looked upon the single faced man and spoke out just before a large blade slit the man through. __"H__e is innocent!" she exclaimed. __"H__e is innocent!" Even over her pleading, the blade could be heard slicing and mangling the man, "Schink!"  
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_Upon hearing their daughter vouch for a accused notorious assassin, they banned her from the castle and cast her out into the unknown. No one within their kingdom had left the boarders and returned._

_The princess went of her own accord to the farthest reaches of the kingdom accompanied by two guards. They were to make sure the princess left and never came back. She stood at the edge of the kingdom with her head raised high. She shed only one tear for her former life and stepped outside without a glance backward. _


	2. Sweet Slumber

_The princess had been stripped of her shoes. It was said that her brother took them forcefully from her feet and shouted as she left the castle, "Dear sister, walk unto your uncertain future with not fear but with shame. As the last of the royal blood drains from your soft soles, remember what you once were. Goodbye to thee, traitor." And so, as the princess trekked through the sharp terrain of the outside world, her tender feet did bleed. _

_Three days and three nights passed, and for three days and three nights, the princess walked. On the third evening, she spotted a distant, flickering light. She began running in the direction of the light. For some reason, the princess thought it would save her, that it would rescue her- that light. It grew larger and larger until, finally, a great castle revealed itself to her. It rose up in the night sky, towering above her like a giant. It was an unwelcoming sight and a frightening sight. Though she was frightened, she had nowhere else to turn, nor did she care. Whatever lay inside, whether it be darkness, thieves, murderers, or beasts she would not retreat for if death came her way, so be it. She had nothing and no one and was ready for whatever may come. _

_Slowly and quietly, she followed the light into the depths of the castle. The light grew brighter and brighter as she tiptoed through the halls. It seemed as if the castle were alive. It seemed as if she were moving through its veins deep into the center where lay its heart. A warm current of wind moved about the corridors, almost as if the castle were breathing, and heat seemed to be emitted from somewhere deep within. _

_She was becoming weaker and weaker the more she walked, but she felt she must go on. The princess came to the mouth of a great opening that was as wide across as nearly thirty men standing side by side. The room to which it led was enormous. Above hung a grand and shining chandelier the size of a full grown oak. Around the walls of the cavernous room were staircase that led to an upper level where one could stand on a balcony and look out over the marvelous room. Upon the walls were shelves of books, beautiful books. _

_In the center of the large room lay the body of a white dragon. The princess was shocked by her discovery. Never before had she seen a dragon. Knights from her kingdom had spoke of them, describing them as evil and terrifying creatures that fed of the flesh of man and woman alike. They were the size of mountains and came from far lands that the likes of man had never seen. The princess began to wonder about the dragon before her. It was most certainly not the size of a mountain. She wondered if it were dead for it did not move at the sound of her presence. _

_She stepped forward with caution, the gap between her and the beast closing. She reached its side and circled around the great heap until she found its head. It had rested its snout upon a large stone. From its snout came great drifts of hot air. It was alive. _

_The princess bent over as to examine the head of the dragon. It seemed almost like a skull. It was as white as snow and its scales gleamed like pearls. From the edges of its jowls protruded sharp teeth and from its toes jutted talons that resembled blades. _

_She knelt down onto her knees, placed her arm atop the rock the dragon was resting its head, propped her head onto her arm, and gazed at the beauty of the creature. _

_"Dragon," the princess whispered. "Dragon, are you dreaming?" The dragon stirred a bit, moving its claws and blowing smoke out of its snout. "Dream of me, dear dragon, for I will be here when you wake." _

_After sometime, the princess rose from the ground. She lifted her hands to her head and shut her eyes. A feeling of dizziness and sharp pain shot through her from her head to her feet. She stumbled and tumbled onto the belly of the dragon, and there, she fell into her own slumber. _


	3. Dragon's Breath

_The princess awoke to the steely gray eyes of the beast. Her own eyes grew wide at the sight of the terrifying creature. At the notice of her awakening, the dragon began sniffing loudly and blowing hot steam at the princess through its snout. She could not take her eyes off of the dragon's. The outward appearance of the creature, it was menacing, dangerous, and deadly, but his eyes were that of a child's. They were swimming with fear, hurt, and loneliness. Though his eyes seemed innocent, his armored body said otherwise. _

_The princess seemed to be petrified. She had not moved since she woke. A permanent look of horror was stuck upon her face. The dragon was confused, what was wrong with the girl? Why would she not speak? He took his paw and as gently as possible, slid them under her. One of the blade like talons cut into the princess's back and she screamed out in pain. This sudden burst of noise frightened the dragon and it also began roaring. He flipped his paw over and the princess fell to the ground. She caught herself and ran to the wall farthest from the dragon. She clutched her now bleeding back and stared on in horror at the creature. Quick gasps emitted from the wounded princess and small whimpers could be heard from the great white beast. _

_The dragon understood what he had done. He could smell the metallic scent of her blood quite well. He rather liked it too. It was tempting him to draw more, but he knew what would become of the girl. She would lose too much and become a limp doll. He never liked that. They never spoke after they lost too much of the tasty crimson liquid. Instead of playing with her more, he lay down on his stomach facing the girl and waited to see what she would do. He watched her intently. She did not move from the wall for a very long time. When she did move, she sat down and stared at him. He could tell she was in pain and whimpered once more. The princess's eyes squinted out of curiosity as the strange sounds escaped the dragon. _

"_You are as lonely as I, are you not, dear dragon?_

_The creature dropped his head and peered at the ground through saddened eyes. He understood what she was saying, knew every word of it. _

_A few quiet moments passed between them and soon it was broken by a loud squeal of pain from the princess. She was slouched over and clutching her bleeding body. The dragon's head shot up in surprise and fright. The princess was hurt much more than he had thought. Slowly, the creature rose to its feet. It bowed its head as it crept over to the wounded girl. As he inched closer to her, the princess heard the sound of its approaching feet and looked up to see the bowing dragon. _

"_Why do you bow for me?" The dragon did not raise his head. __"L__ook at me!" The beast only crept closer. __"D__o not bow, for I am nothing!" And still, the dragon did not raise his head. _

_He reached the bleeding princess and sat before her. Still slouched over and grasping at her wounds, she looked straight into the eyes of the dragon and wept. The creature took the end of his snout and gently tried to pry up the arms of the girl. She refused for a moment, but decided that if he wished her harm, he would have done so when he had her in his paw. So, she let her arms go limp by her side. _

_The beast's snout was inches above the wound. The metallic smell was tickling his nose. He took in a great breath of air and licked his lips. He opened his great mouth and from it came a gentle gust of air. The princess's body went rigid. She was frightened that he was going to set her afire, but he did not. The air was cool, as cool as river waters washing over her. The wound was no longer stinging with pain, no longer swollen with infection, and no longer bleeding. As the gust continued, she felt the ends of the open wound start to pull together. It felt as if invisible cords of twine were pulling them, sewing them closed upon each other, but it did not hurt. _

_The dragon slowly ran out of breath and rose to face the girl. A soft and tired smile spread across her lovely face. _

"_What are you?" she whispered into the creature's ear. __"N__ot dragon, certainly. No creature of the dark are you. No creature of hatred are you. Nor a creature of destruction, certainly not. No fearsome menace of the world. No, not thee."_

_What was she saying? Was she blind, __thought the dragon. The beast backed away with eyes like slits. He lifted his great head to the ceiling and bellowed forth a roar heard from the heavens. Tongues of flame shot forth from his throat and engulfed the ceiling of the cavern. He reared up on his hind legs and slammed them back down upon the stone floor. He let out one last roar and stared at the princess. _

_She stood with her hands over her face and her head bowed. __"F__orgive me, _dragon_."_


	4. A Proposition

"Your Majesty, there is news!"

The queen rose from her throne to meet the messenger. He ran up to the queen and knelt at her feet and spoke, "The king from Taradell has proposed the marriage of your daughter to their prince." The messenger was shaking violently. The queen's eyes widened with surprise. "What was told of my daughter?"

"Nothing your Majesty. I only promised to meet you and speak of the proposition. I revealed nothing of the situation."

The queen's left face grew a crooked smile and began laughing. "Bring me the troops!"

It seemed as if nights and nights had passed. The princess was still so lonely. The dragon had not acknowledged her since he had healed her wound. Days went by that she would just wander through the castle all alone. She found odd little trinkets that she amused herself with, but nothing was fulfilling.

One day, she decided to venture out of the castle into the grounds. The dragon paid her no mind when she left the cavern. She made it to the outside and sniffed the chilly air. She looked about the land and saw that it was barren, save for a rose patch. This confounded her. She walked over the rose garden and walked through the many mazes of trail through the roses. There were roses of every color. She'd never seen so many. She did not remember them being there when she arrived at the castle, it was as if they had magically sprouted forth from the hard rocky landscape. It seemed almost impossible that they were living there. She wanted to pluck one so badly. She reached out the one small, full pink rose. She rubbed its silky petals with her soft silky fingers and moved the fragile stem of the flower. Before she could rip it free, a loud and billowing voice rang out over the grounds.

"Princess! Princess, we have come for you!"

The princess jerked her head up at the sound of the voices. "Princess, where are you?"

She lowered her gaze back to the flower and rubbed it gently once more. At the last minute, she gently pulled the flower from its stem and hid it within her dress.

"Princess, the king and queen have sent us to thee. Will you rejoin them?"

The princess did not reply, but she stepped forth and began walking in the direction of the kingdom she once knew as home.

"We have brought a horse for you, m'lady." A troop clad in bright shining robes brought forth a white horse.

"I need it not, sir."


End file.
